The present invention relates to exterior sideview mirror assemblies suitable for use on an automobile, and more specifically, to plano-auxiliary reflective element assemblies for use in automobile exterior sideview mirror assemblies.
Automobiles are typically equipped with an interior rearview mirror assembly (adapted for providing a rearward field of view immediately rearward of the vehicle, typically principally in the road lane the vehicle is traveling in) and at least one exterior sideview mirror assembly attached to the side of the vehicle (typically adjacent a front side window portion). The exterior side view mirror assembly typically comprises a reflective element adapted to provide a rearward field of view of the side lane adjacent the vehicle so as to allow the driver see whether a side approaching vehicle is present when the driver is contemplating a lane change. Conventionally, automobiles are equipped with a driver-side exterior mirror assembly and, very often, with a passenger-side exterior sideview mirror assembly mounted to the side of the automobile body opposite to that of the driver-side assembly. While the combination of an interior rearview mirror with a driver-side exterior mirror (and especially in a three-mirror system comprising an interior rearview mirror with a driver-side exterior mirror and a passenger-side exterior mirror) works well in many driving situations, rear vision blind spots present a potential safety hazard while driving. A rear vision blind spot is an area adjacent the side of an automobile where a view of another vehicle (overtaking on that side) is not captured in the rearward field of view of the exterior mirror reflector on that side. This presents a potential safety hazard as the driver, upon checking the view in the exterior sideview mirror and seeing no overtaking vehicle therein, may deem it safe to initiate a lane change, unaware that there is a vehicle immediately adjacent in a blind-spot of the exterior mirror reflector.
Various attempts have been made conventionally to minimize and/or eliminate exterior mirror blind-spots on vehicles. One approach is to make the exterior mirror reflector larger, and particularly wider with respect to the vehicle body. By increasing the width of the exterior mirror reflector, it has a wider field of view rearwards, and hence the reflector blind-spot is reduced. While use of a wide exterior mirror reflector is an option for trucks, buses and commercial vehicles, increasing the width of the reflector used in an exterior sideview mirror assembly mounted on automobiles (such as sedans, station wagons, sports cars, convertibles, minivans, sports utility vehicles, pick-up trucks and similar passenger carrying automobiles) is often not an option. In such domestic automobiles, increasing the width of the exterior mirror reflector increases the size of the exterior sideview mirror assembly with a concomitant increase in aerodynamic drag, increase in fuel consumption, increased difficulty in parking in tight parking spaces, and increased reflector vibration. Use of a non-flat, curved exterior mirror reflector is commonly used to increase rearward field of view without increasing reflector size.
While working well to increase field of view, use of a curved reflector (such as a convex, spherically-curved reflector) has disadvantages. The field of view rearward increases as the degree of curvature of the bent substrate increases (i.e., the field of view rearward increases as the radius of curvature of the bent substrate decreases). However, such wide-angle mirrors have non-unit magnification and distance perception rearward is distorted. For this reason, convex (spherically-bent) exterior mirror reflectors are required in some countries (such as the United States) to carry a safety warning “OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR”. Distance perception is particularly important for a driver-side exterior mirror. Indeed, Federal Vehicle Safety Standard No: 111 in the United States (the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein) requires that the driver-side exterior mirror reflector exhibit unit magnification, and places restrictions on the radius of curvature allowed for any bent passenger-side mirror as well as requiring a safety warning be placed thereon. As an improvement over spherically bent/convex mirror reflectors, aspherical or multiradius mirror reflectors (such as are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,449,786 and 5,724,187, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein) have been developed. Such mirrors are widely used in Europe and Asia for both driver-side exterior mirror reflectors and for passenger-side exterior mirror reflectors. The aspherical or multiradius mirror reflectors typically have a less curved (larger radius of curvature) reflective region that is inboard or closest to the driver when mounted on a vehicle and, usually separated by a demarcation line or the like, have a more curved (smaller radius of curvature) region that is outboard or farthest from the driver when mounted on a vehicle. However, such aspherical or multiradius reflectors do not have unit magnification and so cannot be used when unit magnification is mandated (such as by FMVSS 111, referenced above).
To supplement a flat driver-side exterior mirror reflector, an auxiliary and separate bent reflector is sometimes incorporated into the driver-side exterior sideview mirror assembly. However, this is often not suitable for passenger automobiles because of the extra space required in the sideview mirror assembly to accommodate an auxiliary reflector element. Also, in most passenger automobiles, the position of the side view mirror reflector is adjustable by the driver (such as by a hand-adjust, or by a manually adjustable cable such as a Bowden cable or by an electrically operable actuator, as known in the art) in order to provide to that driver his or her desired rearward field of view, which ill-suits use of a separate, auxiliary reflector. Likewise, addition of stick-on blind-spot mirror reflectors (such as are commonly sold in automotive parts stores and the like) onto an automobile exterior sideview mirror reflector has disadvantages, including obscuring field of view of the automobile mirror reflector and adding to mirror element vibration.
There is thus a need to provide an automobile exterior sideview reflective element, and particularly a driver-side automobile exterior sideview reflective element, that overcomes the disadvantages above and that provides the driver of the automobile with a distortion-free field of view with unit magnification that is supplemented with a wide-angle view of a side lane blind spot, and there is a need that this be provided in a unitary reflective element assembly module suitable to mount onto, and be adjusted by, the mirror reflector adjustment mechanism (such as an electrically operated, motorized actuator) provided in the exterior sideview mirror assembly.